Standstill
by Izzu
Summary: In the end, they were still neither here nor there.
1. Hina and Ankh

az: Felt like writing this.

[EDITTED to fix:] Not because of some haughty review. It's because I went back and reread just because it pissed me off! I do not claim I have purrfect grasp of the English language. But I am quite fluent in it. It's fine considering I can still balance being able to keep my mother tongue (Malay) in check, maintaining my hold on my English fluency, continuing to brush up my Japanese and side-learning any other languages I chanced upon. It's still pretty good considering English is my SECOND language.

It's fine if you want to tell me where I did my mistakes. But don't be so arrogant. I am not going to give a piece of your own arrogance back to yourself, but you go watch your own self!

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><p><span>Standstill<span>

Hina and Ankh

By honou-no-izumi alias Izzu

o

o

Who was it she have been worrying about the most; her brother... or Ankh? Somehow the boundary between the two has started to blur. Right now, it felt more as if Ankh was really her brother and vice versa. Wonder when it begin, but she had grown to care for Ankh as much as she did her own brother.

When Eiji had brought Ankh in looking so frail, a part of her felt torn apart. It was the same feeling she felt when she saw Ankh absorbed his three other cores, that other day. Guess she had grown so used to seeing Ankh being his arrogant self, that seeing him now so weak and frail hurt her deeply. She realized that now, not only her anxiety currently was directed for the well-being of her brother; but it was also directed to Ankh.

A part of her was scared to lose Ankh, as well as her brother.

Hina glanced down towards Ankh at her side. Her hand shook as she tried to control her strength while holding him. The fact that Ankh did not even tried to push her away, showed her how much the ordeal had weakened him. Upon hearing that Ankh's real body had revived with its own separate consciousness, a part of her did not just worry about its significance to Ankh remaining to use his brother's body but also what that could have meant to Ankh's existence. Would Ankh leave his brother for dead, while he tried to recover his real body? What would happen when the two Ankh finally merged? Would that Ankh be the same as the Ankh in front of her now?

Somehow, those thoughts... she was a bit afraid to know the answer to it.

Ankh had convulsed in pain again as her heart catched. Even as Eiji explained it was because Ankh had lost a lot of cell medals, a part of her was not satisfied with it. It seemed as if Ankh was even more hurt than this, she would really need to feed Ankh even more later!

She smiled as Eiji insisted on accepting Date's deal despite Ankh's refusal. If that could make him feel better. Hina looked up worriedly as Ankh straightened up to reveal his past to the three of them; while absorbing the new cell medals Date-san had given him. Suddenly, Ankh seemed to look even sadder...

xxx

Did he make the right choice to reveal that much to those two? Not that he had much choice about that, but right now he had to wonder. After revealing that much to them, Ankh felt uncharacteristically... hollow. The past that only he had knew about—the others did not seemed to remember that much about the exact moment of their sealing—to have that past made known to others, somehow it made him feel a slight bit vulnerable. Was this what humans feel when they _opened _up their hearts to others, in order to let up the burden they have carried? How... disagreeable. He did not like this feeling. He always liked to have his thoughts unreadable to Eiji and the others, it gave him a certain edge over them. But now, for them to find out his past and being able to relate that to the choices he had taken so far... Ankh was not sure he would like, that kind of situation.

"Ankh... there's something you've left out. If you and the other guy were to become one again, what would happen?"

Heh. What kind of question was that. What could have happened aside from the obvious? To have even Eiji worry about him... that was laughable! Idiots should leave their concerns away from him! To think he would be disappear... to think the weaker one would be him;_he _the original consciousness? As if he would allow that to happen!

Ankh leered towards Eiji as he and Date started fighting that combined Yummy. Shadow started clouding his thoughts as Eiji called out to ask for a combo. Cold shivers started to engulf his very being. Letting out the truth earlier had allowed himself to remember the very thing that he want to forget. Suddenly the memory of the king backstabbing him, freshly rose from the back of his mind.

Could he trust Eiji still? He must have been stupid to have to rely on OOO's powers again but he has no choice. The reason he had chose Eiji to become OOO was because he had sensed a different presence in him compared to the king. Eiji had impressed him, not only because he did not have the kind of desire he had felt from the king; but because of his selfless attitude. He had thought that perhaps this time, with Eiji as OOO he would be able to achieve the wish he had always longed for... for eight hundred years. The real reason he had allied with the king from the very beginning.

But somehow, so far... the combos had continued to affect Eiji's body terribly and Eiji himself was stupid enough to rely on that power so much without weighing the consequences. Date's reminder made him recall all of it. Somehow he wondered if that was the effect that OOO had given to Eiji.

If that was so, would Eiji end up like the king too? Would he have to watch out for OOO as well in order to not allow the same thing happening again to him? Ah, one problem after another!

And he thought Kazari having his other self as an ally was disturbing enough. At least that guy got his wish of having _him_ as his ally. Though, does it matter much? It was still just his body with a consciousness that was still unmatured. The part that made him _himself_was here, _he_ was the brain... the intelligent one! Urgh! That just made the thought of Kazari having his body becoming even more creepier than it already was!

In the end, the odds were still as vague as before. Winning in this kind of situation was still uncertain.


	2. Eiji

az: Forgotten about this XDDDDD. Not sure if I ended up getting all the things I wanted to cover...

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><p><span>Standstill<span>

Eiji

By honou-no-izumi alias Izzu

o

o

_So that was it, what really happened in the past?_ Was that why Ankh has always been that wary whenever he had pushed for the use of combos during his past battles? He used to think that maybe... in that twisted logic of that person, that perhaps Ankh could have cared for his well-being at some point—at least as OOO. But would that all be because of this, that somehow Ankh feared the same thing to happen to him as this 'king' had? Was he _that_ untrustworthy? It took him to be in this kind of state to finally force Ankh's hand to reveal his secrets. After all that happened, is that not enough already? Ankh was so cold...!

Still...

What if that was not his only reason? What if the reason is because Ankh was afraid to risk placing too much trust on him should the same thing happen again? Based on the story, it should mean that the earlier OOO... the king, was a human. Could that be the reason why he would not allow himself much trust in him? Ankh had said it before that between his own _comrades_ and human race, he rather sided with the humans but he never said that he trusted humans _more._ The way he had worded it then sounded like he was choosing the lesser of the two evils. And why should that be?

Ah! Eiji shook his head as he groaned. Such a difficult creature to understand!

He entered his room to find Ankh already asleep. Well, after the day's ordeal it should not be too surprising if he was all tired out. They almost lost him today after all...

For someone so wary as this guy to be sleeping so peacefully, it must mean that at some point Ankh _did _ trust him to some kind of degree... right? Isn't that an irony in itself? Eiji sighed as he continued staring towards the vulnerable sleeping figure.

_Silly Ankh. You really should have been more honest to the people around you. It's hard to figure out what you're thinking with you acting and saying totally different things._


End file.
